To my opinion (PhD- Computational Chemistry 2011) currently any degree on "computational x, y, z" has a shelf life of max 5-10 years awaiting for so-called quantum computers to become main stream, then PhD-people become irrelevant as machine learning on quantum computers means the work you do for your PhD in 3~6 years can be produced by the computer itself in the blink of an eye!... There was this article in BBC couple of months ago about which jobs will more likely be gone as a result of advancing computers and I think the irony was that the software related jobs were the ones that most likely be gone ....

Just an update:
The prof sent me an email more than a week ago (wednesday may 4) that everything is okayed (I guess that's for the 3rd time in the last few months she said that!) and would receive an email from her on the job details within the next 1-2 days but so far again no email! ... I am just getting to like the ridiculousness of the situation... ( Even if things are truly happening, I am quite sure that I will not apply anyhow but wont let her know! my turn! ha ha ha) so we will see when it will be okayed again!

Here in Canada, he is paying some few hundred dollars a year for his engineering permit* and all he receives is a quarterly magazine on printed thick expensive papers that only talks about the board member meetings on their budget, honorary dinners with this rich guy or that minister and finally several pages of pictures of board members golf tournament and self-congradulatory stories on the golfing skills... membership fees well spent!

*: To make life easier for the honoured board members, in Canada they call engineering a self-regulatory practice so the board members have really nothing to do unless something goes wrong and then all they need to do is to revoke engineering title from the the failed miserable engineer and issue a "lesson-learnt" notice to the public... pretty sad eh?

@Satchi, the certification business is universal… even changing residency within Canada, going one province to another, he will need to take exam or do some other sort of time delaying exercise which he also has to pay a ton of money for it or its membership…. it is a business!

@ TheEngineer: Thanks! Does he need to apply to these institutions before he starts working or can he get a job and then applies for the membership? In Canada there is a term called MIT (member in training) which means if you have some engineering degrees, you can work under a professional engineer while your qualifications being reviewed, if you pass the qualification exams then you be full engineer, if you don't pass, then you cannot practice engineering.

@TheEngineer and Practical mouse: I am not sure whether he will be permitted to work since I will be the one which might get the job offer. And yes, it seems that most of jobs for him (electrical/instrument engineering) are in the south than the north, he also believes he would need to apply for permit to practice which according to him requires him to pass exams and would take at least 6 to a year for that.

@windowill, yes the rent is also another cost to consider. Buying/mortgage is currently not possible as we do not have enough down payment unless we sell our mortgaged house in Canada. Unfortunately where I am, is hard to sell and prices are falling significantly. Selling means we will lose. I assume a 2~3 bed apartment in near university areas would cost 600~800 GBP.

@TheEngineer: Thanks for opening my eyes to the visa fee. I was not aware of that! I checked and yes, it is in that 4,000~5,000 GBP range for a family of 4! adding the cost of thicket, I think the total cost for the visa and the thickets is at least 8,000 to 9,000 GBP! Also, I looked at the postdoc pay range (http://www.indeed.co.uk/salaries/Research-Fellow-Salaries), for my experience (4 years of postdoc) the median is in 33,000 to 35,000 GBP range before tax (25,000 to 27,000 GBP after tax)… so after deducting the visa fee and tickets, my (better to say our family) net income will be 17,000, 19,000 GBP range! … Using BBC the GB class calculator (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22000973) this puts our family into Precariat (the poorest and most deprived class group, even though I clicked my job as a scientist!). I am not sure if a family of 4 can really survive on 17,000, 19,000 GBP…. Am I missing something? Are there other cost that I am not aware of?

@ Tudor_Queen: I am losing my trust in academia too. There is a big difference between what academic life actually is, as opposed to what the public think of it.

Thank Zutterfly for the message. Yes, after our communication (and also with few other people in here) I said no to the job but later she came back with a "much better offer" (of course as always verbal and nothing on the paper!)... I know it is time for move on but I am mad at myself why I waited this long to come to this conclusion ...

P.S.: I wish false academic promises would also be considered as fraud and punishable by the law. I know a lot of lives and talents being destroyed by egocentric academics ....way more than houses being taken a way by bankesters!

Yes, I understand the difficulty of the move but I wonder whether the prof has any idea of what it takes to move a family of 4 (partner + 2 young kids) across the pond. The economy is extremely bad for the mainland Canada (that's why I even thought of the move), but fortunately my husband has a job and we are living in a mortgaged house. My older kid shall be going to preschool this year, so we have to decide on the school now. It is not just matter of filling up a couple of luggages for a 2-week vacation. The mortgage is the biggest challenge as it is not buying (nor renting) market and even if we decide to give up everything and go, we will be losing big time on the house. I had explained the complexity of the move and time for me to get things sort out properly but she seems not interested in my story. I need the job and we need the money but I do not want to rush and lose a lot for this.

Hi all,
I was contacted by a prof working at a uni in the northern UK back in October for a postdoc(I am in Canada). My publications (computational chem) are inline with what she needed and that was the reason she contacted me. Initially she offered a very low salary which I rejected (thanks to y'all for the informative feedback!). Then again in January she emailed that she would pay the university rate and I agreed. We had two unofficial Skype interviews in January. She said that everything was alright and she expected me to start in March. And then nothing happened... Mid Feb, I sent a followup email and her response was that the job is okayed but needed to be approved by the Dean and she expected my job to start in April.. then again nothing happened... End of March, After another followup and she said, the offer is ready but according to university laws, it has to be advertised first so I should expect the job ad in the first week of April with a great chance me getting it. When I asked about the visa process, she said that is not a problem and she expects me to start the job in 1st of May!... Today is April 28, there has been no advertised job and no interview and no further email from her. ... The thing is this has been dragged for 6-7 months and because of this I have put everything on hold...My partner no longer thinks this is good unless we have a definitive and plan-able answer. I appreciate if you can help me:

1- If a job advertised, is she going to be the only once to decide on the applicants?
2- How long is the expected time between a postdoc being advertised, candidate selected and visa process?
3- Given the the credibility of the prof, what is the chances that I accept the job and go and face a big unforeseen surprise?
4- Should I trust her anymore?

I use google. Simply copy and paste the sentences that look too good for the student level and you'd be surprized!... Last year I taught a course and based on the guide line 30% of final grade was based on the students research projects. They had to write a tech report. One of the students simply copied and pasted his report from few journal papers and only changed few headlines to match his project title. I randomly picked few whole sentences that were too good for the class level and googled the whole sentences and voila! They all showed up! Needless to say he was reported and failed the course.

Anyone here living in the north of England? I have a few questions regarding a potential 1-year research job offer at one of lesser known universities in that region and am wondering if this is a good opportunity or not and if it worth the effort moving there from another country with my family for one year? I appreciate if anyone from that region can answer few of my questions, please send me a private message and I will send more details.

NYU is an excellent university but not a tier 1 for electrical engineering. Not sure how you came to this conclusion that you want to study at NYU but cost of living in NY is a killer. Unless you are coming from a wealthy family, do not even think about studying and living in NY.